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Mozilla VPN no longer starts up on my PC, after many months of happy use

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  • Last reply by docdtv

docdtv
docdtv

In November 2020 I downloaded and installed Mozilla VPN (version 1.2.0.0) on my 64-bit Windows 10 PC. It worked just fine for months. But about a month ago, it stopped working. When I solicited it to start up, I still got the Windows permission dialog box about allowing it to meddle with things, but after authorizing this, I could never access the applet which lets one actually bring the VPN up and down, select a city, etc. Uninstalling and reinstalling the software via the Microsoft .msi file did not help things.

So today, I uninstalled Mozilla VPN and downloaded the latest version (1.4.0.0), which I installed. Things have only gotten worse! Now I don't even get the Windows permission dialog box about allowing it to meddle with things! When I took at Windows Task Manager, I can observe the destiny of Mozilla VPN: when I solicit it to start up, it loads, runs for a while, and then dies, departing from the Processes list.

I keep my PC updated with the latest automatic Microsoft patches. I can only imagine that doing this is responsible for creating some sort of problem for Mozilla VPN.

I don't know what more I can try. If no one can offer me a fix within the next week or two, I'll have no alternative but to cancel my subscription and look for a VPN elsewhere. Thaks for any suggestions you can offer me!

In November 2020 I downloaded and installed Mozilla VPN (version 1.2.0.0) on my 64-bit Windows 10 PC. It worked '''just fine''' for months. But about a month ago, it stopped working. When I solicited it to start up, I still got the Windows permission dialog box about allowing it to meddle with things, but after authorizing this, I could never access the applet which lets one actually bring the VPN up and down, select a city, etc. Uninstalling and reinstalling the software via the Microsoft .msi file did not help things. So today, I uninstalled Mozilla VPN and downloaded the latest version (1.4.0.0), which I installed. Things have only gotten '''worse'''! Now I don't even get the Windows permission dialog box about allowing it to meddle with things! When I took at Windows Task Manager, I can observe the destiny of Mozilla VPN: when I solicit it to start up, it loads, runs for a while, and then dies, departing from the Processes list. I keep my PC updated with the latest automatic Microsoft patches. I can only imagine that doing this is responsible for creating some sort of problem for Mozilla VPN. I don't know what more I can try. If no one can offer me a fix within the next week or two, I'll have no alternative but to cancel my subscription and look for a VPN elsewhere. Thaks for any suggestions you can offer me!

Chosen solution

Hello!

Thank you for reaching out and we apologize for the inconvenience,

Try performing a full VPN reset;

1.) Before doing the following, double check the task manager (you can search for this or press control+alt+delete to bring it up) to ensure that the VPN is not currently open. If it is open, right click the process in the task manager and select "End task"

2.) Uninstall Mozilla VPN from your device.

3.) Now, open the Windows "File Explorer". Click on the "View" tab at the top of the window. On the far right side of the option near the top of this tab, you should see a box called "Hidden Items". Ensure you have checked the box so you can view hidden files and folders.

4.) Now that you can view hidden items, click on "This PC" on the left side of the File Explorer. Now click on your hard drive (This should be labeled "Windows (C:)" and will be towards the bottom of the window. From here, open the Users folder and open the folder for your user. Now find and open the AppData folder, open "Local", and open "Mozilla".

5.) Inside the Mozilla folder, you should now see a folder for Firefox (if you have the Firefox Browser installed) and another for FirefoxPrivateNetworkVPN or Mozilla VPN. Right click on the FirefoxPrivateNetworkVPN folder and choose the delete option. Ensure that you do not delete the "Firefox" folder. Restart your system.

6.) Now, re-install the VPN from vpn.mozilla.org and attempt to open it and connect.

Let us know if that helps,

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All Replies (2)

Gustavo Aguilera
Gustavo Aguilera
  • Moderator

Chosen Solution

Hello!

Thank you for reaching out and we apologize for the inconvenience,

Try performing a full VPN reset;

1.) Before doing the following, double check the task manager (you can search for this or press control+alt+delete to bring it up) to ensure that the VPN is not currently open. If it is open, right click the process in the task manager and select "End task"

2.) Uninstall Mozilla VPN from your device.

3.) Now, open the Windows "File Explorer". Click on the "View" tab at the top of the window. On the far right side of the option near the top of this tab, you should see a box called "Hidden Items". Ensure you have checked the box so you can view hidden files and folders.

4.) Now that you can view hidden items, click on "This PC" on the left side of the File Explorer. Now click on your hard drive (This should be labeled "Windows (C:)" and will be towards the bottom of the window. From here, open the Users folder and open the folder for your user. Now find and open the AppData folder, open "Local", and open "Mozilla".

5.) Inside the Mozilla folder, you should now see a folder for Firefox (if you have the Firefox Browser installed) and another for FirefoxPrivateNetworkVPN or Mozilla VPN. Right click on the FirefoxPrivateNetworkVPN folder and choose the delete option. Ensure that you do not delete the "Firefox" folder. Restart your system.

6.) Now, re-install the VPN from vpn.mozilla.org and attempt to open it and connect.

Let us know if that helps,

docdtv
docdtv Question owner

Thank you so much for your prompt help. I followed your clear instructions and could install and use Mozilla VPN successfully at once!

Let me suggest a slight addition to your instructions which could prove useful to some people: I did not know what my user name was, so I opened Command Prompt to discover what it was from the prompt text there.

Let me also offer some help in using the new version of Mozilla VPN under Windows 10. To help the user locate the task bar icon for Mozilla VPN, it says to look in the lower right of the screen. That works if the task bar is in its default position, but it can be moved to any of the four sides of the screen as an option.